Being Just a Photographer Today Is Not Enough

Your skill of making good technical shots is the only one small part of being a successful photographer. You need to watch the works of great photographers, watch beautiful movies, and listen to cool music.

1. Tell us about your background and journey.

At the moment I have made quite an interesting way in commercial photography: I have worked with several hundreds of companies, from small to large, cooperate with many ad agencies, and work in many countries - Russia, USA, England, Switzerland, France, Germany, India, Africa, and many others.

I went down hundreds of meters in industrial mines in Norilsk, shot refugees in Greece camps, took a portrait of astronauts, musicians, and some media stars. In short, photography gave me many interesting "small lives". That's why I love my job so much.

2. How and when did you realize your passion for photography?

I started shooting 13 years ago and it was just a creative hobby. I didn't understand how to shoot portraits and generally felt shy to work with people, until one day my friend asked me to take a few shots for their music band. It was my very first experience to work with people and I really liked it.

I started studying technique, took pictures of my friends, and eventually moved on to commercial personal and wedding shooting, but I always dreamed of doing big projects. Many years later this desire attracted me to cooperation with large companies and advertising agencies.

3. What are some tips you would like to share with amateur photographers?

The most important advice is to try to work only in your lovely direction of photography. Of course, the question of money is quite acute, but the more you love your work, the better you will shoot. And you will be rewarded for your passion, no doubt.

4. What are the important skills one should have to be a successful photographer?

You have to improve your creative taste every day. You also need to provide good service to your clients. Don't delay the deadlines, do your job accurately, try to make your customers happy, be a professional. And, of course, love what you create.

5. What are various opportunities available for aspiring photographers?

There are a lot of opportunities nowadays for young and creative people. You can take pictures on lightweight mirrorless cameras, edit them on your phone, upload to the cloud in seconds, create your own blog, share your skills and communicate directly with customers, companies, and agencies through public accounts.

Never before has the customer world been so accessible. However, now we have a huge competition. That's why being just a photographer today is not enough. Find friends-retouchers, 3D-artists, video-operators, come up with an interesting collaboration, and try to look wider at the profession of a photographer.

Perhaps you can create something completely new and exciting!

6. Which is your favorite book and why?

One of my favorite books is "Robert Capa at Work: This is War. Photographs 1936-1945". I can't say that I'm a fan of military photography, but I've always been more interested in the life of the photographers, than in studying their photos. This gives me a great context and explains why this person became so popular.

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